NBA Waiver Wire: Week 3 Look-Ahead

Over the entire 2018-19 season, there are only five instances of a team playing five games over a single Fantasy week (Monday to Sunday). Two of those five will take place during Week 3, when both the 76ers and the Trail Blazers have a packed schedule. That adds a ton of value to 76ers or Trail Blazers in any format without a strong games maximum.

The players below are listed in the order I'd recommend adding them.

This article will focus on players available in at least 50 percent of Yahoo leagues. That said, especially this early in the season, ownership levels don't quite correlate with value the same way that they will later in the season.

Many teams are reluctant to part with some bad draft picks, meaning that some good players are still available, even in deep competitive leagues. Since there are still many valuable players who are widely available but miss that 50-percent cut-off, it's worth checking your waiver wire to see if any of the following players are still available:

Cedi Osman, Cavaliers (63 percent owned)
Danny Green, Spurs (60 percent owned)
Wesley Matthews, Mavericks (52 percent owned)
T.J. Warren, Suns (62 percent owned)
Jae Crowder, Jazz (51 percent owned)
Derrick Rose, Timberwolves (53 percent owned)

E'Twaun Moore, Pelicans (36 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: at Den, at GS, at Por, at SA
Put simply, Moore is only still available because he was so underrated in the preseason. He's averaging 15.0 points in 30.7 minutes while shooting 52.8 percent from the field. He's only averaging 1.0 threes so far this season, but his accuracy from behind the arc is way behind his career mark right now, and as that catches up to his skill level his threes per game should rise to between 1.5 and 2.0 per game. Once added, Moore is the type of player likely to stay on your roster for the entire season.

Al-Farouq Aminu, Trail Blazers (33 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: at Ind, at Hou, NO, LAL, Min
Averaging 30 minutes per game, managers can get a whopping 150 minutes worth of production out of Aminu due to the Blazers' five-game week. That's just so many minutes. Most of the players listed below average between 28 and 32 minutes, and only play three or four games – no matter how good they are, they're going to have difficulty out-producing Aminu while only seeing between 56 and 90 percent of the court time.

Aminu might not last beyond the short-term benefit of the five-day week, depending on the depth of your league. He's snagged 15 rebounds in back-to-back games, and he's averaging 1.3 threes despite shooting well below his career averages for efficiency. He doesn't score much, though he usually provides decent defensive numbers, making him best suited for a punt-points build should he stick on a roster. By the middle of Week 3 we'll have a better sense of his long term value, but in the short term he can be added in most leagues.

Reggie Bullock, Pistons (20 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: at Bos, at Bkn, at Phi
Luke Kennard (shoulder) was injured Friday and will miss several weeks. He played 19 minutes in the opener, but shifted to a smaller bench role when Bullock made his season debut in Game 2. Nonetheless, though Kennard was already behind Bullock on the depth chart, he was also Bullock's only potential threat to playing time. Bullock is already averaging 34.3 minutes and five three-point attempts per game. He's currently in a bit of a shooting slump, but if his workload maintains and he returns to near his career shooting efficiency, he'd average a little more than 15 points and two threes per game.

Ish Smith, Pistons (26 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: at Bos, at Bkn, at Phi
The Pistons have been playing Smith alongside Reggie Jackson for 11.3 minutes per game, which is completely new for them. Over their past two seasons, the pair averaged less than 1.5 minutes per game together, effectively making it so that Smith only had Fantasy value when Jackson was out. Now that they are playing together, however, Smith is rosterable even while Jackson is healthy. The Pistons are likely to keep this experiment going, as lineups with both guards have a net rating of plus-23.4, the fourth-best pairing on the team that has played at least 40 minutes together. Smith is averaging 14.3 points, 3.8 assists and 2.0 threes in 29.0 minutes so far this season.

Damyean Dotson, Knicks (21 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: Bkn, Ind, at Dal, at Was
This is probably just a short-term add, but Dotson has made a serious impact over the past two games. He's averaged 17.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.5 threes in 33 minutes per game. He's also added three steals and a block. Part of the reason Dotson is getting minutes is because the Knicks have been losing big in both games – but, that's what happens to bad teams. Dotson's workload is also helped by the absences of Courtney Lee (neck) and Kevin Knox (ankle). Lee's timetable is still unknown, but Knox could return in as little as a week. Regardless, even if we only get a week or two out of Dotson, this level of production is absolutely worth it.

Bryn Forbes, Spurs (17 percent owned)
Next week's schedule: Dal, at Pho, NO, Orl
Dejounte Murray (knee) is out for the season, and backup Derrick White (heel) could miss another couple weeks. In their absence, Forbes has stepped in as a primary ball-handler for the Spurs, averaging 31.3 minutes and 14.8 points per game. It has been generally expected that White will take over once he returns, but White doesn't have an established resume that would demand he gets thrust into action as soon as he's ready. Forbes has positioned himself to claim this job permanently. While it's far too soon to declare any decisive victory, Forbes has definitely done enough to warrant Fantasy attention, especially for rosters that don't require immediate assistance.

Other recommendations: Kelly Oubre, Wizards (42 percent owned); Nemanja Bjelica, Kings (30 percent owned); Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Clippers (24 percent owned); Zach Collins, Trail Blazers (20 percent owned); Monte Morris, Nuggets (10 percent owned)